Probed further on whether there had been contact with Arsenal, Umtiti continued: ‘To be honest, I don’t know if they had conversations with my agent, I just told him that I didn’t care what was happening this summer and that it wasn’t even necessary to talk to me about it.

‘It was useless, I was going to have the same answer. My dream as a child is to play for Barcelona. Last season was the most difficult of my career, especially in terms of injuries.’

Umtiti struggled with a knee problem last season and lost his place in the Barcelona side to compatriot Clement Lenglet, while he was forced to pull out of the France squad that takes on Andorra on Tuesday due to a foot injury.

It was briefly suggested that he might be included in a swap deal with PSG for Neymar, to which he responded: ‘It’s crazy. It made me laugh, I don’t even have an answer to where it comes from.’